Chapter 3 - my best friend is here

“OMG this is the best thing I ever had!” Jisoo said with full excitement.

“You just had some Soju and Ddeokbokki you know”. He looked at her with an amused but somewhat sad expression. He was casually holding his head in one hand and filling the Soju cups with the other one.

“It tastes amazing though! I never had this before.!

“Or course you didn’t, but I think you need it today.” He said while filling up her cup again.

Jisoo was a little confused. Did she look that awful that a guy was giving her shots? Or maybe he was trying to get her all drunk and then kidnap her! Jisoo was terrified for a second, but he looked way to nice to try something weird. She also couldn’t keep her curiosity for herself “Who was following you?”

“The police” he answered without even changing his expression.

“What!?!?” Jisoo screamed. “You’re a criminal I knew it!”

“You know that if you meet a real criminal you should be standing up and run away right now… do you?”  

Jisoo had to think about this. He was right, but to her he didn’t seem all that dangerous. Or maybe that’s what the Soju thought. She was still in High School, she wasn’t even allowed to drink this at all. If she would run to the next police station now they would only question her, why an underaged girls was drinking alcohol in the middle of the night.

“Well I guess I’m drunk and on top of that I don’t even know where I am to be honest” she drank another glass. Her entire body started to feel warm, which was a feeling she had missed the last few days.

“Where are you from then?” he asked, without looking at her.

“The place where all the rich people live. They have great lives these rich people. It’s amazing!” her sarcasm was more than noticeable.

“Oh, so you’re a rich girl with issues, I see. But I think you’re quite drunk” he smiled at her with some sort of fascination in his facial expression.

“Everyone has issues you know. What about you then? You just got hunted by the police!” she said without being able to fully control her gestures. It was probably the Soju that made her all weird.

He took a sip from his glass “Just because they ran after me doesn’t mean I’m the one who did it.”

“Did what?” Jisoo wanted to know.

He adjusted his seating position and crossed his arms. “Someone I know got into trouble and now it somehow looks like I did it. The world is messed up” he laughed.

“If you really didn’t do it, why are you laughing?” Jisoo was confused.

He waited a little to answer and observed her face. “Being angry and sad is not going to help you”

Jisoo was speechless. Why was he looking at her like this? What did he know? Nothing! She felt like he was trying to give her life advice that she didn’t want. She wanted to go, but she didn’t know where to go.

“I think I’ll go now” she said. Jisoo stood up and started to walk into the same direction she did before. Every step was a little shaky but she was sure she could continue walking without anyone noticing her being drunk.

“Wait!” the guy said, “the rich people quarter is the opposite direction!”

“I know!” Jisoo answered and kept walking. She was getting cold again. It seemed like the warmth of the tent and the alcohol had gone away. She crossed her arms in front of her to keep her body warmth.

“I don’t know where you’re going but at least take this then” the guy said and gave her his sweater.

She looked at the sweater and then at him. “Who are you?”

“I’m Min Yoongi” he replied as if he didn’t hear the suspicious undertone in her voice. 

“That’s not what I meant. Why are you being so nice to me? What is it that you want? Do you need a lawyer or money?” Jisoo couldn’t understand his actions. Why would he invite her for food and also give her his sweater? Something was fishy about this guy.

His facial expression turned dark. “Wow. That’s the thing with you rich people. You don’t understand human kindness. You always think us poor people want something from you. Unbelievable…” he started walking again.

Jisoo felt bad. Was he really just being nice? She knew she was not supposed to trust strangers, but on the other hand he seemed nice. Most importantly she didn’t know where she was and she left her phone and wallet at home.

“Min Yoongi! Wait! I’m sorry!” she caught up with him “I’m just not used to people being nice to me just because they want to”.

“You must live a messed-up life then” he said while continuing to walk and not looking at her.

Jisoo walked a bit faster to stand right in front of him. This way he had to stop. “Are you mad at me?”

He finally looked her in the eyes and sighed. “Why would I be angry? I obviously barely know you”.

He was right. She didn’t know this person at all. He was the only person that made her talk though. It was nice to talk to someone. Actually, she missed human contact. She just had a weird day. But she met him twice, which is why she decided to trust him only for tonight. She knew that was stupid, but she would rather have him with her than walking alone in this creepy area. It was obviously a neighborhood where less privileged people lived. She didn’t feel unsafe but just not familiar.

“I’m sorry for just now, I just had a strange day. I think I should go home somehow, but I don’t know where I am and I don’t have my wallet or phone with me. I think I just overreacted a little bit. I’m sorry… How about this. You will help me get a taxi home and I will give you my phone number, so next time I can pay you for the taxi ride. Food is also on me next time.”

“Sure, let’s to that” he agreed. He gave her his phone so she could put in her phone number.

“Kim Jisoo, so that’s your name”.

Jisoo just realized she never told him her name. He walked her to the next big road and got her a taxi.

“Get home safely ok?” Yoongi said.

“I will. Thank you for today, Min Yoongi. Don’t forget to let me know how much I owe you for the taxi” Jisoo added. 

“Sure thing” Yoongi answered. He waited until Jisoo was in the Taxi and then went his way. Jisoo was fascinated by this person. Who was he? Did it have any kind of meaning that she met him twice today? Or was this just a mere coincident?

That night when she came home, no one was awake. Her parents didn’t even care that she was out all night. It was already past 4AM. On the living room table she found a few more bottles of Soju. It was probably her mother. She took them into the kitchen. In one bottle there was still some Soju left. Jisoo decided to just empty it. Of course she was underaged but it’s not like anyone would notice. She also liked the feeling of it, it warmed her up from the inside as if it would break the ice inside of her body. After finishing the bottle, cleaning up the kitchen and washing up Jisoo went into her room. She took a few sleeping pills like she did every night, as she couldn’t sleep ever since that day. This time she fell asleep very fast and everything was dark. She didn’t know how long she was asleep. The only thing she saw was darkness. Never ending darkness she seemed to be trapped in. Darkness she couldn’t escape from.

“Kim Jisoo, please wake up!” a woman screamed. It was her mother. Jisoo remembered the argument they had yesterday. It felt like she had a Deja-vu. Jisoo wanted to open her eyes but she couldn’t. Then she fell back asleep. The next time she woke up, she was able to open her eyes. She looked around. This wasn’t her room. She wasn’t familiar with her surroundings. After a good look around she realized she was in a hospital again. She knew by the smell, the bed and the equipment. She has seen places like this too often. Just in that moment a nurse came in.

“Ms. Kim you’re finally awake! I will call the doctor right away!” she said while turning around. She ran out of the room and minutes later she came back in with the doctor.

“Ms. Kim, how are you feeling?” he asked her.

Jisoo just looked at him without answering.

“Luckily your suicide attempt wasn’t successful. We emptied your entire stomach and found a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills in your blood samples. You have been asleep for two days, but we injected you with nourishments. If you eat properly from now on, the effects on your body won’t be that big. But your parents also suggested to give you psychological help.”

Wait… What the hell was going on here? Suicide attempt? She didn’t try to kill herself…  What was he saying? Psychological help? What was that supposed to mean?

Jisoo was not quite sure if this was real or if she was dreaming. The last time she talked to a doctor, was when they told her Seokjin died. On the other hand, she trusted hospitals. She knew that these people knew what they were doing. Her parents would only send her to specialists. But suicide was a bit too much. She froze... Right! She had a lot of Soju that night. She took the sleeping pills without realizing she had alcohol in her system. She never drank. She didn’t even think that this could have some affects.

“The amount of alcohol and sleeping pills in your system weren’t severe, but due to the malnutrition your body did not take it that well. You need to eat more Ms. Kim. It is important for your mental and physical health.”

What the hell? Did they really think she was trying to kill herself?

“Your parents have been very worried Ms. Kim” the doctor continued, “so far the news of you being here did not get out to the media. We also want to keep it that way but in order to do so we need your cooperation.”

Cooperation? For what? Jisoo had no intention to talk to the doctor but it seemed like the doctor didn’t mind her attitude.

“We will keep you here for another day to observe you and your blood results. Your parents will be here later today.” Then the doctor left. The nurse did some more checks on Jisoo, opened the window and left. Jisoo was sitting on her bed. She couldn’t believe she has been asleep for two days. How could that little alcohol and sleeping pills affect her this way? It is true that she didn’t really think about the consequences of taking the pills, but for her this has become a ritual in the evening. Without them she couldn’t sleep. Now her parents would think she would want to kill herself like Seokjin did. How would she get out of this situation? This was all just too messed up.

Jisoo sighed. She saw her phone on the nightstand next to her. Maybe Min Yoongi called, she thought. She checked her phone. No one called.

Jisoo was somewhat disappointed. What did she expect though? That he would actually call her for the taxi fee? She checked the time. It was already 4.30PM. She decided to walk around a little bit. She wanted to get some air. When she looked outside of the window, she realized where she was. This was the same place Seokjin died, it was the hospital she went to everyday for such a long time. This place was so familiar as she spend more time here than at home. She had the feeling that she wanted to see his room again. When she walked out of her hospital room she knew exactly where to go. She spent every day here. Every day she used to come here after school. Her parents only came on the weekends.

When she arrived at the cancer division, the nurses greeted her. They all knew who she was. She didn’t talk to them, but they knew what she wanted.

“Do you want to see your brother’s room?” one of the nurses asked. She was usually there when Jisoo arrived after school. She was the one that brought her fruits and a blanket if she fell asleep. Jisoo actually suspected Seokjin to have a crush on her. She was beautiful and really nice. She wasn’t much older than Seokjin as she had just graduated MedSchool when Seokjin came here. Jisoo nodded her head.

“You’re lucky. From tomorrow on this room will be designed to a new patient.” the nurse said while walking to the room with Jisoo. The nurse opened the room with her key. “You can stay as long as you want, I will lock it after you’re gone.” The nurse gave her a little hug: “take your time Jisoo, OK?”

Jisoo nodded her head. The room looked so familiar. This room felt more like a home to her than the mansion she was living in. She had her happiest and saddest moments of her life in here. She saw the table where she used to do her homework. Seokjin used to help her, when she was stuck. He was very intelligent and was more than happy to help her out. It was a distraction for him to think about old school tasks. It made him laugh sometimes. They had played games in this room, watched movies or just talked for a very long time.

To Jisoo’s surprise she didn’t cry. She somehow felt at peace in this room. She used to sleep here on the weekends as well.

“Don’t you want to go out meeting your friends?” Seokjin asked her once. 

“Why? My best friend is here, and the others don’t even care about us anymore” Jisoo said. Seokjin probably felt bad for Jisoo, but for her this was OK. She liked spending time with her brother, and he always succeeded in cheering her up when she didn’t feel good. Seokjin was always happy and full of hope. At least that’s what everyone thought. Not even Jisoo thought he would one day end his life. How could this happy and bubbly person have these kinds of dark thoughts in his head. He never said anything to her…

After a while Jisoo decided to say goodbye to Seokjin’s old room. She wouldn’t come back here anymore. She took some pictures with her phone just to have it as a memory. After she left the room she wanted to go back to her own at first, but without realizing it she ended up on the rooftop. She went to the place Seokjin had been standing a month ago. She looked down and took a step back. It was really, really high. Then she looked at the scenery. It was beautiful! You could see the entire city from here! Even the river sparkled in the sunshine. What did Seokjin think when he was standing here? He said there was no hope for him in this world. He said he was a burden to her... Jisoo just stood there for a while and finally the tears came. This was the exact place where he decided to end his life.

“Ms. Kim” a voice behind her said. “I know this must be hard for you but please stay where you are.” Jisoo turned around. There was the doctor and three other men. Behind the four doctors she saw her mom in tears. What was this? Oh god they probably though she wanted to jump down the building. As the man approached her she walked back a little. She didn’t want them to come closer, but if she would go further back she would actually fall.

“Please Ms. Kim” her doctor said “take my hand. Everything will be fine.”

Everything will be fine? Who the hell did he think he was? How could everything be fine? Her mom and the doctors as well though she was trying to kill herself. Since when did her mother even care? The doctor took her arm and dragged her into the direction of the door.

“You need professional help Jisoo” her mom said.

You need professional help! Jisoo thought. It was the first time Jisoo even saw tears in her mother’s eyes ever since that day. She didn’t cry over her dead son but she cried because she thought Jisoo was becoming crazy as well and destroy her reputation. Jisoo started to hate her mother even more. They never really had a good mother-daughter relationship, in fact Jisoo didn’t really care about her. And as long as she could remember, her mom also didn’t care about Jisoo. Why was this woman getting involved now?

“We will send you to a special facility, where people can help you” her mom added.

Special facility? Just what kind of place was she thinking of? In that moment the three other men came over to hold her on both of her arms. What kind of movie was this? Were they really going to drag her to the “special facility”? What the hell! Jisoo tried to get free.

“Leave me alone!” she finally said. She started screaming and crying. She just wanted to be alone. What were these men doing with her? Why did other people decide what she should do and how she should behave?

“Ms. Kim, you should cooperate, or we have to use other forces.” her doctor said.

Other forces? Was that even allowed? Jisoo thought she was still trapped in a very bad dream. She just wanted to wake up! The doctor took out a syringe and injected her with something. Then her world became dark again